OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY: OR, YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS IN SCIENCE AND ART FOR 1859. EXHIBITING THE MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICS, USEFUL ARTS, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, TOGETHER WITH NOTES ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1858; A LIST DAVID A. WELLS, A. M., AUTHOR OF PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by GOULD AND LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY W. F. DRAPER, ANDOVER, MASS. NOTES BY THE EDITOR ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE FOR THE YEAR 1859. THE Twelfth Meeting of the American Association for the Promotion of Science was held at Baltimore, Md., April 28th to May 5th, 1858. In the absence of both President and Vice-President elect, the chair was taken by Professor Caswell. The attendance of members was somewhat smaller than usual, and the whole number of papers presented was ninety-five; of these thirty-three pertained to the section of Astronomy, Physics, and Mathematics; nine to Meteorology; fourteen to Geology and Geography; eighteen to Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology; and twenty-one to Philology and Miscellaneous. The meeting adjourned to meet at Springfield, Massachusetts, on the first Wednesday of August, 1859. Professor Stephen Alexander, of Princeton, was chosen President for the ensuing year, and Professor Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst, Vice-President. The Association was addressed at length by Dr. Hayes, the Surgeon of the Kane Arctic Expedition, in behalf of a renewed effort to reach the open Polar Sea, described by Dr. Kane. He proposes to organize and lead an expedition, starting in the spring of 1860, and following the route pursued by Dr. Kane. The details of the plan, as given by Dr. H., were as follows: The expedition would require two years for its operations, and in view of the rich and valuable experience of the last, he could not but deem it probable that the next attempt would prove successful. There was needed for the expedition one vessel of one hundred tons, equipped for two and a half years, and twelve men. It would greatly add to the convenience of the party to be provided with a small steam-tender of thirty tons, with a shifting screw; except for the necessity of conveying provisions, even so large a vessel as one of one hundred tons would not be necessary. The party should leave the States early in April, giving time to lay in additional fresh provisions on the Greenland coast, and so materially to reduce the cost of outfit. Before the last of August it should push up Smith's Sound to the ice-belt, with the intention of wintering as high as the 80th parallel, if possible. Smith's Sound, fortunately for this route, runs diagonally to the course of the general current thus operating to keep Grinnell's Land free of floating ice. Under this western shore it might be possible to work the steam-tender through the leads left by the southward drifting ice, even into the heart of the Polar Sea. But this was a doubtful reliance on which they would not too much depend. It would be necessary by three or four journeys with the dog-sledges to make depots of provision as high in Grinnel's Land as on the 82d parallel. This was perfectly feasible; each dog could be depended on to carry seventy pounds weight, thirty-two miles a day, on a ration of thirteen ounces of pemmican. In April, the party should leave the vessel, the men conveying the boats upon sledges until (and the inference was that it would be by the middle of May) the icebelt had been crossed and the open sea reached. Dogs could not drag the boats they were not competent to the conveyance of any such dead weight. But experience had shown that over the smooth ice, as this was likely to be, men could easily walk sixteen miles a day, dragging on sledges a weight of one hundred and ten pounds for each. To avoid the incumbrance of so much canvas, they would take no tents, but rely for shelter upon the snow-house, which could be constructed in an hour, and which was better than the tent for protection. Furs and carbonaceous food must be their reliance for warmth. While travelling, the pemmican (dried meat and tallow, of which four pounds is equal to fourteen pounds of green meat) must be the sole reliance as food. The Doctor believed that the climate was eminently a wholesome one. The danger from cold and scurvy had been greatly lessened by the experience of the last few years. Dr. Kane sailed too early to avail himself of the wonderful advantages now furnished in the concentrated fresh meats and vegetables, for protecting from and curing scurvy. At the conclusion of Dr. Hayes's address, a resolution was adopted, referring the matter to a committee of seven, with instructions to report on the expediency of uniting with Dr. Hayes in his efforts to fit out an expedition. The Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, was held at Leeds, September 22—26, Professor Owen in the chair. The attendance was good, and the papers of more than ordinary interest. The meeting for 1859 was appointed to be held in Aberdeen, Prince Albert being the President elect. The annual report of the Council stated, that since the discussion at the last meeting at Dublin, relative to the formation of a " Catalogue of the philosophical papers contained in the various scientific transactions and journals of all countries," this important work has been commenced under the auspices and at the expense of the Royal |